Adventures in teaching 8th grade math at your average American middle school.

6.09.2012

Survival of the Brainiest

In 8th grade science, students study adaptations and natural selection as evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution. It's a great unit, very well planned and executed by the 8th grade science team. At one point the students have an assignment to create a "build a beast". This is a made up creature that must have adaptations for survival in a randomly selected environment.

In the spirit of cross curriculum work, I decided to have some fun with this. At the end of a test students had the option of creating a creature specially adapted to survive in a math classroom. The following list represents some of my favorite adaptations:

big brain, for thinking

big eyes that never close

an extra set of ears for listening

calculator built in to tummy

ruler limbs and a slope intercept body

graphite tipped nails for writing

flat butt for sitting all day (HAHA)

powerful Chuck Norris roundhouse to solve fractions

a digestive system that makes it so he never goes to the bathroom (which would interrupt learning)

weak legs, taking away the temptation to do sports, leaving more time to study

a small mouth to prevent the temptation to talk

The pictures students drew were fantastic and the names of creatures where great: